It has been an unusually quiet week or so in sports crime, which is perhaps not unexpected, since this is the one time of year when the most arrest-prone class of athletes in America — NFL players — are sequestered in training camps and usually too dog-tired from two-a-days and running suicides to bother to punch out bar skanks or kick in police cruiser windows.

Nonetheless, it is still extremely unusual to go more than four or five days without seeing the arrest of a current or former NFL player somewhere on the continent of North America, and in recent weeks we actually had a streak of 13 full days without such an event, according to my research. That's right — it was way back on July 25 when we saw the arrest of Vonta Leach, a fullback for the Houston Texans. Leach was hosting an "all white dress" event in Lumberton, Texas, when an altercation broke out. Leach tried to break it up and, in the process, ended up whacking some guy in the face with a beer bottle and kicking him. Police arrested Leach and charged him with simple assault.

And that was it, for nearly a fortnight, until Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker got busted for smoking weed last week. Even worse, Parker and fellow Eagle Todd Herremans (an offensive lineman) were pulled over by the police after midnight and didn't get out of booking until 5:18 am, well after coach Andy Reid's 1 am curfew. The pair were driving around in a retro Ford van in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, not far from where the Eagles are holding their training camp. The problem is, they were driving without their headlights on and made an illegal left turn. Police pulled them over and, after a search was conducted, Parker was found to be holding some herb. Two women, age 21 and 22, were also in the van.

Not sure what Herremans's excuse was, but Parker at least could afford to stay out a little late and nuzzle young ladies because Reid had excused all players over 30 from morning practice the next day. No word yet on any discipline by the team. For our purposes, a training-camp weed arrest is about as low as one can get on the seriousness scale: give him one point.

It should be noted that even before the Leach arrest, busts of NFL players had been slowing down as training camps cranked up. Prior to the July 25 incident, the last bust was of former Dallas Cowboy/Cleveland Brown linebacker Darren Hambrick, lesser-known brother of former NFL running back Troy Hambrick, who himself is now doing five years for selling crack.

Darren, who was once kicked off the University of Florida team for hitting a player in the jaw with broken glass, has also been infamous for off-field troubles of late, twice getting busted for assaulting his girlfriend. In late July he was arrested again, this time for holding the girlfriend against her will for 11 hours and raping her — according to police, the bed actually snapped in half during the ordeal. He also took her cell phone away when she tried to call for help. Hambrick faces charges of domestic battery, sexual battery, false imprisonment, and tampering with a witness. Give this jackass 91 points, and a spot in our top three.

Bengals and Bulldogs There hasn't been a whole lot to cheer about in New England Patriots country of late, and I'm not sure that this will fit the bill, but let's try it on for size.

Number two blues As we approach NFL draft season, it’s fun to look back at those great draft prospects of yore, the workout warriors and combine heroes who titillated coordinators, coaches, and fans leading up to the big selection day in New York.

NFL follies Not only was Donte Stallworth officially charged with DUI manslaughter, but another former AFC East star, former Buffalo Bill running back Travis Henry, reached a plea agreement on drug charges.

Lame Ducks Wow, it sure has been a nasty couple of weeks for the University of Oregon and football coach Chip Kelly.

Cardinal sin Here's one you don't hear every day. J.J. Hones, a point guard on the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team, has been dismissed from the squad for a DUI. No big deal, right? Happens all the time in college sports.

QB freak Trying to parse the situation with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his sexual-assault allegations, one comes to some interesting conclusions. The strategy pursued by law enforcement in this case speaks volumes.

Mirror, mirror Virtually every year, like clockwork, a college-football player is arrested for getting blasted and then running around town vandalizing cars — a crime that almost always involves ripping multiple side mirrors off of multiple automobiles.

Amazing grace The morning after I get back from the 41st annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, an oil executive is on the radio: “We’re throwing everything we have at it.” Meaning the exploded BP-leased well in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Facebook fracas Sooner or later, Facebook had to figure into the sports-crime scene. There are at least two cases now of pro football players getting arrested for assault in fights resulting from their wives looking at their Facebook friends lists.

LET GO, METS | August 18, 2010 As difficult as this summer has been for those of us counted among the Red Sox faithful, let's all agree: it would be a hell of a lot worse to be a New York Mets fan right now.